Salt could play key role in energy transition
A common ingredient—salt—could have a big role to play in the energy transition to lower carbon energy sources.
Feb 21, 2023
0
44
A common ingredient—salt—could have a big role to play in the energy transition to lower carbon energy sources.
Feb 21, 2023
0
44
German hydrogen propulsion company H2FLY and its European partners recently achieved a major milestone in their drive to make zero-emission commercial flights a reality. As the developed LH2 storage tank has passed French ...
Nov 25, 2022
1
33
In 2016, experts writing in Nature listed seven breakthroughs in how we process chemicals that could change the world for the better. We believe we've just ticked one of those off the list.
Jul 15, 2022
3
238
The fight against climate change is making the search for carbon-neutral energy sources increasingly urgent. Green hydrogen, which is produced from water with the help of renewable energies such as wind or solar power, is ...
May 25, 2022
1
41
In deeply decarbonized energy systems utilizing high penetrations of variable renewable energy (VRE), energy storage is needed to keep the lights on and the electricity flowing when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't ...
May 16, 2022
0
26
For renewable energy and energy storage technologies, variation is the name of the game.
Jul 27, 2021
0
28
What do pipes and anchors have to do with storing energy? More than you might think. A new IIASA-led study explored the potential of a lesser known, but promising sustainable energy storage system called Buoyancy Energy Storage.
Jun 23, 2021
0
10
Large-scale storage of hydrogen remains largely untested but is essential if hydrogen is to realize its potential to make a significant contribution to achieving net-zero emissions. A new perspectives paper sets out the key ...
Jan 29, 2021
1
20
Month-on-month, year-on-year, the world continues to experience record high temperatures. In response to this and exacerbated by a growing global population, it is expected that air-conditioning demand will continue to rise. ...
Oct 19, 2020
1
12
Hydrogen as a carbon-free energy source could expand into a variety of sectors, including industrial processes, building heat and transportation. Currently, it powers a growing fleet of zero-emission vehicles, including trains ...
Oct 10, 2019
0
9
Hydrogen storage describes the methodologies for storing H2 for subsequent use. The methodologies span many approaches, including high pressures and cryogenics, but usually focus on chemical compounds that reversibly release H2 upon heating. Hydrogen storage is a topical goal in the development of a hydrogen economy. Most research into hydrogen storage is focused on storing hydrogen in a lightweight, compact manner for mobile applications.
Some attention has been given to the role of underground hydrogen storage to provide grid energy storage for unpredictable energy sources, like wind power.
Hydrocarbons are stored extensively at the point of use, be it in the gasoline tanks of automobiles or propane tanks hung on the side of barbecue grills. Hydrogen, in comparison, is quite difficult to store or transport with current technology. Hydrogen gas has good energy density by weight, but poor energy density by volume versus hydrocarbons, hence it requires a larger tank to store. A large hydrogen tank will be heavier than the small hydrocarbon tank used to store the same amount of energy, all other factors remaining equal. Increasing gas pressure would improve the energy density by volume, making for smaller, but not lighter container tanks (see pressure vessel). Compressed hydrogen will require energy to power the compressor. Higher compression will mean more energy lost to the compression step.
Alternatively, higher volumetric energy density liquid hydrogen or slush hydrogen may be used (as in the Space Shuttle). However liquid hydrogen requires cryogenic storage and boils around 20.268 K (–252.882 °C or -423.188 °F). Hence, its liquefaction imposes a large energy loss (as energy is needed to cool it down to that temperature). The tanks must also be well insulated to prevent boil off. Insulation for liquid hydrogen tanks is usually expensive and delicate. Assuming all of that is solvable, the density problem remains. Liquid hydrogen has worse energy density by volume than hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline by approximately a factor of four. This highlights the density problem for pure hydrogen: there is actually about 64% more hydrogen in a liter of gasoline (116 grams hydrogen) than there is in a liter of pure liquid hydrogen (71 grams hydrogen). The carbon in the gasoline also contributes to the energy of combustion.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA